NULL pointer dereference in Linux

CVE-2026-31436

In the Linux kernel, the following vulnerability has been resolved: dmaengine: idxd: fix possible wrong descriptor completion in llist_abort_desc() At the end of this function, d is the traversal cursor of flist, but the code completes found instead. This can lead to issues such as NULL pointer dereferences, double completion, or descriptor leaks. Fix this by completing d instead of found in the final list_for_each_entry_safe() loop.

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.007 (50.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 50th percentile — 50.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-31436: held from 0.005 to 0.007.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.007 · change: +0.002

Affected products

  • Linux — versions aa8d18becc0c14aa3eb46d6d1b81450446e11b87, 6.8, 0
  • Linux Kernel — versions 7.0

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-31436?
CVE-2026-31436 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Linux, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2026-04-22.
How severe is CVE-2026-31436?
Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.